Perforated card for accounting systems.



1. R. PEIRCE.

PERFORATED CARD FOR ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-16.1912.

1,236,475. Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- FIG 1 1 JN A i 5 1 v EMPIRE DEPARTMENT STORE 1 5 5 5 9 5 1 STAMP. SENQ TO s E l: f: i i w f: ff fl x CHARGE TO FURHA I Y ACCOPLPKGQ, COIN NO. 4 SECYIQN v H02 14... Q 50' EB w /6 10 $2542 1 6.1o-c-a-2 55 1 27 I J $25-12 1 6.1 o-c-a-2 5 5 1 27 1 Fl G.B.

155 5a 5 1 5LIP mg. ELL-KEERSON J v WITNESSES INVENTOR/G Mkmwz, cr dim ewu;

v ATTORNEY J. R. PEIRCE.

PERFORMED CARD FOR ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION 'FILED 6.16.1912.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- AVTHoRIZATION.

DEPI ND- SLIP NO. SALESPERSON SEND TO PLACI ARE OF SHIPPING INQTHUCTIONS BATE {HOW SEN; l LAIOR AMT. OF SALE CHARGE. Tb

A DQRESS Tow- AND sun:

PURCHASED av B" DEPT: NO. v DEFT No. lcom NO. ACCOM. O-K. AUTHORIZATION SALESFRSON CASH FROM CUSTQMSR 5 9 51 2 o 00 L 351?; a n;s 8. 25- 1 a1|la;z

GLIP NO.

SALESPERSON an moM-cusT'M'n Ant OF SALE FIG 5 47/ y ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

JOHN BOYDEN PEIBCE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

-PERFOBATED CARD FOR ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS.

i To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN ROYDEN Pnmon, a citizen of the United States, residin in the city, county, and State of New lork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Perforated Cards for Accounting Systems, of which the followin is a specification.

In large department stores and similar institutions it is customary for the salesperson to make out a slip for each sale, showing the items, that is the kind and amount of goods purchased, the price and other information concerning the particular transaction; said sales slip containing also certain class information, common to a number oftransactions, such as the department number, the salespersons number, and so forth. A duplicate of the sales slip is made out simultaneously, by means of a sheet of carbon paper. In the case of cash sales the original slips go to the customer, (the salesperson merely retaining a memorandum of the total amounts), and the duplicates go to the accounting office, for the purpose of auditing the accounts ofcash turned in by the salesperson. In the case of a credit sale the original slips go to the cashier, and the duplicates are used for auditing or checking the same. Many variants ofthe system and of the style of slips are used in different businesses; but in practically all cases the slips contain printed class information common to a number of transactions and the salesperson writes on it information concerning a particular transaction, and in most systems the slips belonging to each salesperson are printed beforehand with consecutive numbers which identify the separate transactions.

My present invention provides a card, or so called slip, which can be readily substituted for the slips heretofore in use, or. used in addition thereto, and which is of minimum size and which is perforated in such a way as to permit a quick and accurate auditing of the accounts and a distribution of the amounts into the classesdesired, all by the use of said cards in accounting and distributing mechanism described in previous applications for patent which I have filed (as, for example,-No. 479,189 filed February 20,1909, and 601,817 filed January 10, 1911). The perforating of the cards may be effected in various types of machine, as for example in that described Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

Application filed August 16, 1912. Serial No. 715,409.

in my application for patent, No. 480,052, February 25, 1909. Besides the uses of the card above described, it has certain features of advantage which are useful in otherfields of accounting, cost keeping and distributing or classifying and tabulating mformation of various sorts.

The accompanying drawings illustrate certain embodiments of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates the audit portion of the card before use. I

Fig. 2 illustrates the complete card after use with the audit portion separated from the sales slip portion. Fig. 3 shows another style of card after use with the audit portion separated.

Fig. 4 is a fragment of Fig. 3 before use. Fig. 5 shows a sales slip which is used with the card of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a chart of the system of perforatlons.

Referring now to the embodiments of the invention illustrated, Fig. 1 shows before use an audit portion of a card, A, and party of a sales slip portion, B, of the card which is shown complete after use, in Fig. 2, a weakened tearing line C being provided for separating them. This audit portion is provided beforehand with a class'number (No. 5,931) indicating the salesperson and printed, but is not perforated. A. certain corner of each card is cut off as indicated to enable the userto quickly stack them or insert them into a machine in proper position.

' When a sale is made the salesperson writes the items, the prices and the total on the sales slip portion (and in some cases other information which is not pertinent here) and hands it to, the cashier, who puts it in a suitable machine and prints and punches it as hereinafter described and separates the audit portion. The two parts are then sent through the usual channelsto the accounting department.

Forexample in Fig. 2 the sales slip portion B has written or. it the goods bought, the prices and the total,.$16.10. The cashiers machine prints on both the sales slip .portion and the audit portion the date (82512) the total amount ($16.10) the number or symbol indicating the kind of sale as a cash or credit, or according to any desired classification indicated by a number or letter (C); and the kind of person as local, out of town, or the like (G); the

department (253); and the cashiers number (127). These items are all class items except the amount which is an individual item. The machine at the same time perforates the card to correspond with the 1nd1-. vidual item and such of the class items as are desired. In Fig. 2 the kind of sale is indicated in the column marked F; the kind of person in the column marked G; the department in the column marked H; and the total amount in the column marked J; the date and the cashiersnumber being omitted. These perforations are made only in the audit portion of the card. The audit portion then contains printed repetitions of some of the class items on the sales slip portion, printed and perforated repetitions of other class items on the sales slip portion and printed and perforated repetitions of individual items on the sales slip portion. The audit portion of the card thus has printed and perforated on it before use at least one of the class'items and one of the individual items (the salespersons number and the slip number respectively) correspondingto the same items on the sales slip portion; and has after use printed and perforated thereon one or more class items and individual items corresponding to similar items on the sales slip portion; and has also after use printed, but not perforated, class items such as the date and the cashiers number, corresponding to the same items on the sales slip portion.

In the drawings vertical and horizontal lines are drawn to show the spaces in which the holes or perforations are located. In practice, however, these lines may be omitted. It is not necessary to read the perforations, the machine being certain to print the numbers corresponding exactly with the perforations so that they may be readily read by the operator. The distributing machine in which the audit portion of the card is afterward introduced, and which is controlled by such audit portion of the card, of course does not require the lines indicating the spacing of the holes. A feature of particular advantage in cards for this and for various other businesses is the use of less than nine spaces for indicating the several digits from one to nine, (zero being indicated by the absence of a perforation). As illustraterheach vertical column contains one or more perforations indicating the corresponding digit. and in each column there are four spaces, the several digits being indicated by one or more perforations in various combinations of spaces. For example, referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the slip number 135 is represented by the perforations in the first, second and third columns of the hole-spaces under D; a perforation in the lowermost or cut perforations or groups of perforations corresponding to the numbers from 1 to 9. In previous systems it has been common to use a single perforation for each digit, in which case nine different spaces are necessary ineach column in order to compass the nine digits. Using four hole-spaces and using either one or more perforations in each column it is apparent that any one of the nine digits can be represented by suitably varying the positions of the perforations and the number of the perforations in the column. Where letters or other characters are used instead of numerals, as the letters (C) and (G) in the lower part of Fig. 2 the four hole-spaces in the corresponding columns F and G are sufiicient to compass a' series consisting of not more than sixteen characters, since this is the greatest number of combinations of none, one, two, three or four holes which can be made in the four hole-spaces of a column. For example in Fig. 2, column F the letter C is represented by a perforation in the third space; and in column G the letter is represented by perforations in the first and second spaces. This combination system of perforations permits of the use 01. a very small card and small and comparatively simple machines for perforating the card and for using the same. The economy in fact is so great as to make the system applicable to many businesses. in which it would not otherwise be practical.

\Vith such a card the auditing of the accounts is greatly facilitated. If the totals shown by the distributing machine through which the audit portion of the card is passed do not correspond with the totals obtained from the sales slips or with the total of cash turned in by the salesperson, the error can be readily located by comparing, for any particular class of items, all the sales slips with all the audit portions, the class numbers repeated on the two portions of the card making it easy to effect this comparison; and the printing of the amount on both portions of the card serving as a check one portion against the other. Or in the case shown in Fig. 2 the amount written by thesales person, $16.10, may be compared with the amount printed on the same portion of the card, with which of course it should correspond.

being in the beginning on a separate piece of paper or a detachable portion of such separate piece. Such a case is shown in Figs. 3,4 and 5, in which the original sales slip B, Fig. 5, is laid over the card of Fig. 3, with a sheet of carbon paper between; the card of Fig. 3 comprising the audit portion A and the duplicate sales slip portion 13 The salespersons number and department number, which are class items, are printed on the original and duplicate sales slip portions and are also printed and perforated on the audit portion and the same is true of the individual item, the slip number; this it into the perforating and printing machine and perforates and prints such class items and individual items as are desired. According to Fig. 3 there is added to the audit portion 'of the card in this operation the printed indication of the cashiers numher, the printed and perforated indication of the kind of person (indicated at P and'in the column G) and the. printed and perforated indication of the kind of sale, indicated at S and in the'column F;'and the printed and perforated amount, (shown in column J). This differs from the method illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 in that the card of Fig. 3 has an additional class item, de-

partment printed and perforated before use. Also the class items which are printed and perforated 0n the-audit portion after use are not repeated on the sales slips; and the individual item, the amount, though printed on the audit portion is not printed on the sales slips, being indicated therein the sales persons handwriting.

In Figs. 3 and 4 there is illustrated a peculiar style of card which may be adopted for the one piececard of Figs. 1 and 2 or may be used in connection with the extra sales slip shown in Fig. 5. In this style of card the audit portion is integral with the remainder of the card, so as to facilitate its use in connection therewith but is located in one corner of the complete card so as to secure a convenient and compact shape; and a line of cuts and perforations is provided around the audit portion whereby when the latter is torn away from the. remainder of the card it is of a shape which is specially convenient and useful in passing it through subsequent sorting or distributing machines. It is important in feeding such cards rapidly through a sortingv or a distributing machine that the edges of the card shall be clean and sharp, and not ragged or thick like the edge which commonly results from tearing a card along a perforated line. This result is secured in the construction in Figs,

3 and 4 by partly cutting the audit portion A A' from the duplicate slip B leaving only a small connecting portion which is perportion is separated by a clean cut K from the remainder. The central part of the upper edge of the audit portion is separated by a similar clean cut L from the remainderof the card. A beveled corner M is provided for determining the correct position ofthe audit portion of the card in the machine. Between the ends of the cut L and the adjacent edges perforations N are provided by which the audit portion can be quickly torn oil. The cut L is above the perforations N, being extended between two larger perforations N, so that in the detached audit portion of the card the clean cut edge will stand above the slightly ragged edge made by tearing through the perforations. This card is fed through the machine by means of a pusher bearing upon its'upper edge and it is important that at least the portion of the upper edge upon which the pusher bears be cleanly cut; and it is of advantage that this clean cut portion be above the ragged marginal portions.

What I claim is: Y

1. A card of the character described comprising two portions, the first portion thereof bearing certain class information common to a number of transactions, said first portion bearing printed matter and constituting a sales slip and being provided with appropriately indicated spaces adapted to have the, information concerning a particular transaction written therein by a salesperson, the second portion thereof constitut ing an audit card}. having delimited hole spaces which when perforated in a determined relation indicate' the class and certain particular items of information said audit .portion being also detachable -a (1 used to a second portion, said first portion bearing printed matter and constituting a sales 'slip provided with appropriately indicated spaces adapted to have the information concerning a particular transaction written thereon by a salesperson, and said second portion constituting an audit card having printing spaces and having delimited hole spaces which, when perforated in a determined relation, indicate the class and certain particular items of information said audit portion being also detachable and used to control classifying and accounting mechanism. I

3. A card of the character described comprising two portions, one portion having designated thereon certain class information common to a number of transactions and a second portion having the same information printed and perforated thereon by means of perforations in certain delimited hole spaces, said first portion constituting a sales slip having a space upon which the information concerning a particular transaction may be written by a salesperson, and said second portion constituting an audit card which is detachable and used to control classifying and accounting mechanism.

,4. A card of the character described comprising two portions, one portion having designated thereon certain class information common to a number of transactions and also certain information distinguishing each card from the others, and a second portion having the same information printed and ing a particular transaction may be written by a salesperson, and said second portion constituting an audit card which is detaching certain numbers indicated thereon by perforations, said card having for each digit of the number a group of less than nine delimited hole spaces and the digits of the number being represented by various combinations of perforations in said spaces, and said number bein represented by a group of combinations 0% perforations.

6. A card of the character described having certain numbers indicated thereon by perforations, said card having for each digit of the number a group of four hole spaces and the digits of the number being represented by various combinations of perforations in said spaces, and said number being represented by a group of combinations of JOHN nornn fi irnmon. Witnesses JACOB ARNREIM, J r., ARTHUR PENTECOST. 

